Anne Arundel schools drafting social media policy

Policy would govern use of social media in schools

More teachers could be logging on to social media as an educational tool in Anne Arundel County, where the school district is in the early stages of crafting a social media policy for students and teachers.

The policy would lift restrictions on how popular sites like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook can be used in school.

Rachel Amstutz, principal at South Shore Elementary School in Crownsville, is only a tweet away from her school, even when she's out of the building.

"It has been just this year that we've been using Twitter to connect with our parents and to share what our students are learning," she said.

Amstutz represents a new generation of educators who recognize the value of social media, and now Anne Arundel County is about to get on board system-wide. The district is drawing up a social media policy it believes will become a vital tool to enhance education, communication and learning.

"What we're going to look at is unblocking social media sites to use them for instructional purposes. So, if a teacher finds, for instance, a YouTube video which contributes to a lesson, we could unblock YouTube and they could use that in a lesson. They currently can't do that," district spokesman Bob Mosier said.

District officials said the goal is to have more schools take the lead in creating a sort of high tech path for learning. Educators in schools where social media has already gotten a pass predict this is only the beginning.

"I've seen so many opportunities to connect through Twitter and so many other social media sites connecting with classrooms across this country and the world, and it just opens up so many doors for my students," Amstutz said.

The proposed social media policy will not go on the books without language to protect students to draw the line on how students and educators communicate. Also, there will be exceptions in cases where administrators and parents have given their written permission.

This is only the first reading on that social media policy. If it is approved by the School Board, it would go on the books this fall.

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